


Taking Notes

by theprettymozart



Category: Classical Music RPF
Genre: Avengers: Now With Composers!, Other, welcome to my contribution to the classical music community
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-03-04 08:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13361028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprettymozart/pseuds/theprettymozart
Summary: Practice room four at the local university was usually filled by one of two people, a petite blonde girl with a violin or a lanky brunette and her cello. They would say hello in passing, smile politely and part ways.Or alternatively, some famous composers need help from the modern era's brightest young musicians.





	1. Adagio

Practice room four at the local university was usually filled by one of two people, a petite blonde girl with a violin or a lanky brunette and her cello. They would say hello in passing, smile politely and part ways.

Somewhere in the afterlife, we see a very different picture unfold.

Composers of all ages and time periods were in panic mode. Manuscripts were going missing, their most famous pieces stolen right in front of their eyes. 

After 2 weeks of complete non-corporeal chaos, Johann Sebastian Bach saw it fit that classical music’s finest should team up with the brightest up and coming musicians on present-day Earth. Eight composers were chosen and they all traveled to the world of the living that evening.

That happened to be the same evening that the blonde girl, Lillian Schmidt was playing at a showcase and was engaged in a last-ditch effort to flatten the baby hairs on her neck when she heard grumbling coming from her sitting room. Which was really curious to her because she lived alone and had invited nobody over that evening. 

Arming herself with a still warm hair curler she made her way around baskets of carefully folded laundry to the source of the muttering. To her surprise, she found a semi-translucent man that she had only seen in portraits sitting in front of her horribly out of tune piano pressing random keys and making sounds of pure disgust. 

Clearing her throat, Lillian was poised to swing the curling iron, “Who are you? And please stop touching my piano!” 

Startled, the figure turned around and stood up from the piano bench. “There were no voices, so I assumed you were not home. Also, madame, your piano is out of tune you should send for a tuner immediately. I am Ludwig van Beethoven, I am certain you know who I am.”

With a snort, Lillian replied, “I’m not buying it,” and swung the curling iron. Only to her amazement, it sailed cleanly through his head, coming into contact with nothing. “Well that certainly was rude to do that to someone who’s complete works are sitting on your nightstand” the man curtly replied.

Luke Reid decided to skip school today. It was a decision taken at 4am but his throat hurt badly (like he swallowed barb wire) and his lungs were on fire. So no school today.

He thought he was having fever hallucinations because of a floating video game and closed his eyes for a second. Then he reopened them to see the game still floating. Somehow the room became colder too.

And Luke screamed.

And another voice, a male one, somehow weaker, also screamed.

Luke was already out of bed as the game dropped and the ghost became only a little visible - a man in his late 30s, tall and scarily thin, dressed in what appeared to be a coat.

So Lucas turned around and walked right out of his apartment and to his neighbor’s house to find her in a rather similar situation but much worse. 

Cynthia Andrews and her cello had been through a lot but never ghosts. So when Luke came barreling into her apartment telling her about a floating video game. She just pointed at the floating bottle of champagne and the pretty darn opaque man looking really damn concerned that he could not drink it. 

“Is that?” “Yeah, I think it is” “Does that make the guy on my couch?” “YOU ASKED SOMEONE OUT!” “No, there is a ghost on my couch” “Okay then. New plan. Switch apartments interrogate each others' ghosts”

“There is another ghost?” said the slightly disgruntled ghost. “By all means young man, lead the way.” The group of three made the short trip down the hall till the ghost following behind Luke and Cynthia stopped in his tracks. “Oh no, not him. I’m not talking to him. It may have been 131 years I’m not talking to Frederic.” “Sorry buddy but Mister Frederic over here is your neighbor now so you should probably be quiet” Luke replied in a monotone voice. 

Elsewhere in town, two more ghosts were waiting outside a high school for the pride and joy of the school’s music department. 

“Wolferl are you sure we are in the right place? There are no children around here.” complained a lady in a pink gown relaxing on the stairs. “Nannerl have an ounce of patience, please, we just arrived” a man in a red coat replied. 

“Are you sure you should be lecturing me on patience Wolfgang?”  
“No, yet here I am.”  
“Hush, there they are”

Nannerl hiked up her skirts and hurried towards Leo and Alyssa Sullivan with her brother in tow. 

With a flourish, Wolfgang bowed to the siblings, “My name is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, this is my sister Maria Anna Mozart and we need you two to assist us in recovering our music.” Next to him, Nannerl gave a smile and a polite curtsy.

Alyssa gave them a thorough look up and down “Well you two sure look the part but what is something only the real Mozart siblings would know?”

“Well for starters I collaborated with him on his first symphony in 1764 and wrote its Do Re Fa Mi motif. To also prove my point we are dead, and ghosts. If I so desired, I could walk right through you!” Nannerl stated. 

“If you say that you can, please enlighten me,” Leo replied.  
And so Nannerl walked right through him.


	2. Moderato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet Frank, Zander, and Cassandra. Bach has some explaining to do.

Later the same day a boy named Frank found himself alone at work again.  
He worked in an old record shop so, it tended to happen more frequently than he cared to enjoy. 

The lighting of the store wasn’t very good so he didn’t see a man enter the shop. So usually looked up from his book if he heard the distinctive jangle of the bell above the door.

But the bell never rang. Because the man phased through the door. This man’s name was Franz Schubert. 

Out of all the composers who decided to participate in the retrieval of the music, he was the most reluctant. It was not his place to meddle in the affairs of people who were still alive, but yet here he was, in a music store, about to explain to a child that they needed to go to the local park in about an hour to meet the father of music.

And the whole time as Franz was explaining who he was, and why he was there, Frank just kind of stood there. His eyes were wide open because that was his favorite composer. Right there. Talking to him. 

“I don’t know if you know this or anything but you are a genius,” Frank said slowly during a lull in the explanation.

“Thank you? Franz replied 

Frank adjusted his glasses. Franz adjusted his. And they set off for the park.

At the community center’s auditorium, lighting director Zander Newman was tired of seeing small children parading around on stage.

“This isn’t even dancing,” he mused out loud 

“I know and that’s why I hate it.” said tired a voice to his left

“Sorry, um who are you? Why are you up here? This is a crew only area sir,” Zander responded in the most authoritative voice he could muster.

“My apologies, I let myself in. A friend of mine told you that you would be up here. My name is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

“No, it is impossible for you to be him, he wrote this godforsaken ballet, and not to mention, he has been dead for one hundred and twenty four years.”

“Don’t age me like this Mister Newman, I am quite young compared to the others,” Pyotr grumbled. It appeared as if he was sitting on a chair but instead levitated a few feet off the ground.

“Now, Mister Newman we really must get going, Johann hates it when we are late”

 

Said Johan had quite possibly the hardest job of all. He had to explain everything to a Miss Cassandra Wallace. 

He knew she had two children from a relationship gone awry and thought that he would best explain the current situation at a relatively convenient time to all three of them. 

So he waited slightly awkwardly for Cassandra on her front porch, taking care to remain unseen so that he didn’t get stares from passersby. 

Cassandra was a musician by nature. Her family owned a piano repair shop back in her hometown. She could recognize that tacky wig anywhere. 

So when the man at her front door introduced himself as Johann Sebastian Bach she was convinced of his identity easily.

“We must meet everyone at the park soon and once we get there I will explain everything in more detail,” he added.

 

As Cassandra neared the park she saw a small group of people gathered. 

There was a girl with a violin case on her back laughing at something that another girl had said to her. A man in a red coat and a lady in a pink dress chatted happily with a pair of twins. 

They joined the group and Bach asked for everyone to gather around. 

“I thank you all for coming here on such short notice,” he began.

“Manuscripts of our most famous pieces have gone missing all over the world. We have given ourselves the immense task of recovering this stolen music. But, to do so we need help from people that are currently alive,” he explained “That is where you all come in,” 

“Ghosts have the ability to travel wherever they please, but only with the assistance of people that are currently living. It’s sort of like being possessed, but not that extreme, or quite as bad,” he added quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of introductions, I promise. More shenanigans next time! -Nan


	3. Bagatelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Were we talking about powers?
> 
> We also follow the siblings home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, quick note Italics within quotations will indicate a composer speaking while fused with a human. Proceed! -Nan

“So, you're telling me, that right now, I could have the mind of Franz Liszt but still look like myself?” Cynthia asked with a snicker.

“Basically, yes” Bach replied.

“Being possessed by the ghost of Beethoven is exactly how I want to spend my Friday nights,” Lillian hissed under her breath.

“I am right here,” he hissed right back.

“Are we all just gonna stand here, or are we gonna figure out how this works?” Leo said from the bench.

“Well, from what I know you just kinda do this-” Wolfgang scooted over and tapped him on the shoulder.

It felt like trying to move through honey.

_“Hey there Leo~”_ “Are you talking with my voice?” _“Yes, I am.”_ “So now I just sound like an idiot having a conversation with myself out loud?” _“Yes, you do.”_

After taking a long sip from her water bottle Alyssa asked,“What’s it like having a genius in your head Leo?” “Not much better than living with you Aly” “Touche”

“What were those cool abilities that you were talking about?” Leo asked the group.

_“Oh boy this is the best part!”_ said Wolfgang in his head. _“Check it out,”_

Leo suddenly disappeared from where he was standing and reappeared at the other end of the park.

“Ta-da”

“Being honest here, I wasn’t expecting that.” _“Doesn’t that make it so much more fun?”_ “Please take us back now or my sister will probably lose her shit” _“Wow, same.”_

And they were right back where they started.

“Wow congratulations Leo, you are finally qualified to be a member of the X-Men” Alyssa piped up from next to him.

Lillian checked her watch with a look of disdain. If she didn’t leave now she wouldn’t make it to the wedding venue on time. “Not to take away from whatever magical thing just happened, but uh I need to get to a wedding,” she pointed to the violin on her back.

Bach cleared his throat, “Yes, everyone is free to go. But please do try to look for the scores.”

And with that, they all began to go home. Cynthia waved goodbye to Lillian who returned it with a smile, Frank and Luke exchanged phone numbers and soon it was the two groups of siblings left at the park.

“Alright gang, time to head home I guess,” Alyssa said after a while. The group began to walk back to the Sullivan’s house.

They chatted amongst themselves as they strolled.

“I assume Leo is a nickname, I am curious as to what your full name is,” Wolfgang asked.

“Oh? I thought you knew, my full name is Leopold,” Leo replied.

Nannerl’s content smile faltered. “Are your parents a fan of our father?”

“Nope, they named him after Leopold Bloom from James Joyce’s Ulysses. My father is a literature professor,” Alyssa said, like that explained everything.

The small group stopped in front of a small brick house with a well-kept garden. The air smelled of the rose bushes that clustered by the front stairs.

“Welcome to our humble abode!”

The Mozart siblings walked through the door to find themselves surrounded by a whirlwind of plants and books, with a few pieces of sheet music here and there.

“Well! This is-” Wolfgang started.

He was quickly cut off by his sister “Spectacular!” she crossed the entry hall to some daffodils in a pot “I have never seen these flowers grow so large!”

“Our mother is a botanist,” Alyssa said, once again, like that explained everything. “My room is over there, so I guess Nannerl stays with me, and Wolfgang you can stay with my brother,”

“I have these really cool gel pens I want to show you-” Alyssa said, motioning for Nannerl to follow her.

That left Wolfgang and Leo by themselves.

“Ground rules,” Leo began, “Number one, no pranks. Number two, don’t disturb me after 9:30 PM. Number three, no touching my violin. And number four, actually, that’s about it there is no number four.”

“Oh this is going to be _fun_ , I can just tell,” Wolfgang thought.


	4. Allegro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Practice time with Luke and Cynthia.

The following night was a loud bang on the wall of Cynthia’s living room.

 

“If you play Canon in D one more time I swear to god I will strangle you myself” came Luke’s muffled yell.

 

“Play those damn nocturnes again and you will have no air conditioning for a week.” She yelled back sarcastically

 

“I must know, are you a couple? Because you sure argue like one.” Franz Liszt remarked from where he was floating by the window.

She burst out laughing, “HAH! Me? And Luke? Oh, Franz, that is a  _ good one _ ,” she stood and retrieved her cello case from where it was propped up against the wall “I grew up with him, I know him too well to ever fathom dating him.”

“That’s a pity you would be a lovely couple,”     

Next door, Frederic Chopin was stunned, “Does she genuinely not like my nocturnes?  Luke turned around on the piano bench to face Frederic, “It’s actually quite the opposite, she loves your stuff, I just have a performance coming up and I’m honestly playing them as a coping mechanism,”

“Ah I see,” Frederic nodded in understanding, he also had dislike of performing for others. 

The two heard a bang on the door this time.

“Luke we gotta practice the Cello Sonata,” 

“Hold on let me get the door for you,”

Luke opened the door and offered to carry Cynthia’s cello inside. Liszt followed the two inside and proceed to stand as far away from Chopin as possible.

Cynthia gave Liszt a deadpan stare, “You two have to talk to each other. Sometime Franz, sometime you will have to talk to him. You might not like it but your lives crossed in so many places that, if you want your music back you better figure out whatever this is,” she gestured broadly at Luke and Chopin quietly conversing at the piano with her bow.

She finished setting up her music stand and got out their sheet music for the fourth movement of Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D Minor. Luke started their metronome and tentatively plucked out the first few notes on the piano, Cynthia began the cello part. 

They played together like a well-oiled machine. They had done so since fifth grade, a pair of prodigies they were considered back then. Nearly inseparable, it was always boisterous and bright-eyed Cynthia, and shy introvert Luke. They finished each other's sentences back then and still could as they played. 

The movement ended with a shrill note from Cynthia’s bow and was met with silent applause from both Chopin and Liszt. “Who is this by?” Chopin asked after a moment.“Shostakovich, it’s a favorite of mine” Cynthia looked over her shoulder at him. Chopin nodded in approval. 

Cynthia got two glasses of water from Luke’s kitchen and handed one to him. She took a long sip and looked around, 

 

“So boys, where should we start looking for your music?”

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, hi there! I'm the entity known as Nan. I run nannerlmozartofficial and the rp blog  
> the-pretty-mozart. This story started out as the idea of what Classicaloid could have been. I wrote this and made the characters with my pals Jacqueline and SCP. So biggest shout out to you two!


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